Introduction

The Match Observer and Referee Coach reporting resources were recently updated, following a national review led by the RFU. The outcome is the introduction of three different observer forms, developed around a single core structure, for use at different levels of the game.

The new observer forms, provided below, are designed to uniform content across all levels of refereeing, in line with national and regional standards.

These forms are intended for use by both Match Observers and Referee Coaches.

Guidance Notes

The recent RFU review findings were that most assessments of referee performance below Level 5 are a combination of assessment, development advice and coaching in varying degrees. Therefore, the Match Officials Development Reports (Forms 1 & 2), that will be used in the vast majority of society observer activities are structured with this in mind.

Full RFU guidance notes for the revised observer forms can be downloaded here.

Targeted guidance and performance criteria notes for the individual form variations are also provided below.

A unified data collection form has been created and can also be downloaded here, as well a completed example.

Match Official Developers: Conversations to Words Presentation

Andrew Small (RFU Referee Development Officer) delivered a presentation at the 2018 LSRFUR Match Official Developers Conference that provides further guidance and examples of the updated documentation and best practices. The presentation can be downloaded here.